In Memory of You
by SphericalRainbow
Summary: Rin has always lived in an abusive household, and she's hated it. She hated that her parents always fought and her brother wasn't home to help. When she finally goes to a hospital to become a foster child, she meets Gumi, who is going through something so different, yet so similar. She's on her deathbed. Rin leaves, but only to return with an issue. Suicide/abuse TW. HIATUS


**I deleted the intro on accident kms**

 **Okay so I am _so excited_ for this story! If you came on here from my mention in Fists of Fury, then I thank you even more! Now, my girlfriend and I came up with this idea, and before I post them, I'm having her read over it and tell me what she thinks, so hopefully that'll go well. This story, I'm hoping, can get as popular as Fists of Fury (a little more than 1,000 reads). If you didn't come from that, then please please _please_ go read it! Cotton Candy, the NegiToro fanfic I'm working on, will be up soon!**

 **Thank you guys so much! I love you all!**

The door downstairs clicked and I sighed. I had trained my ears involuntarily to listen for the lock falling in place whenever mommy left for work. She always left at exactly the same time every day, which was 12:45 in the afternoon. She always came home after daddy, who never came home at the same time. He always went somewhere between work and home, but mommy always came home before him at 8:32 every night, no matter how bad the traffic was outside.

It must have been around 12:47 now. It was a routine, I suppose, and I was whispering to myself the seconds that went by. Two minutes have passed since the door downstairs closed, so it had to have been 12:47. I held my patched-up teddy bear closer to me, turning and staring at a picture in the corner, still muttering numbers. I crawled over, my bare knees scraping along the unpolished wood, and grabbed the frame with one hand to observe it better. It was an old picture of me and my brother, who was out. We were twins, but he didn't live with me. He was never home. I love him so much but he's never here. He didn't want me to follow, I can tell because of the note he left behind when he ran away. Mommy seemed distraught that he was gone, daddy never noticed, and I was just waiting for him to come back. Every time my door opens from my floor, my heart skips a beat and I hope it's him.

But it never is. It's always mom coming up and smelling like smoke.

I sighed, staring out the small slanted window. "12:48," I muttered to myself, not moving an inch. I looked down at the bowl of soup from last night; it was half full and more than likely cold. My room was always cold, but I assumed it was because of the chill outside. My stomach growled and I whimpered, looking back to the door. No one was coming, so would it be okay? I reached out with both hands and pressed the frigid rim to my lips, then slowly drank what little I had left. Once I felt better, I lowered it back to my legs, shivering. I sniffled from the cold and whispered another time: "12:49."

The phone rang from downstairs and I jumped in surprise, looking down at my door. I hesitated, not sure if I should go to get it, but I remembered when I was caught last time. I whimpered, listening to the ringing rebound off the walls, then I slowly crawled over to the door, careful not to scrape my knee and cause it to bleed. I grabbed the handle, looking behind me for safety and to take one more reassuring glance at my brother, then pushed it open. Mommy and daddy didn't know I knew how to open the door, since they assumed I never needed to open it, but since Len ran away, they've been kinda mean, and told me to stay up in my room. Maybe they just want to protect me from whatever took my brother away. Nonetheless, I shoved it open the rest of the way and pulled the ladder apart, then let it unfold and fall straight. I stared at it for a second, sucking in my breath, then descended down the rungs and carefully landed on the floor.

The phone had stopped ringing a while ago, and I sighed. Nothing I had just accomplished was worth anything, or so I thought, until the phone rang again. I waited a moment, as if seeing if mommy would get it despite her absence, then I carefully stepped into the hallway and detached the phone. I stared at it for a moment in my hand, then pulled it to my ear.

"Chikako? Hideaki? Are you guys okay?"

Why wouldn't my parents be okay?

"They're…not home," I muttered, almost afraid to speak up. It was silent, then the voice continued.

"Do I have a wrong number?"

"Mommy and daddy aren't home," I repeated, a little braver this time, then I heard a sigh.

"I think it's a wrong number. Who is this?"

"Rin. Rin Katsunoha."

"Your mommy is Chikako?"

"Yes sir."

It was silent again, then there was a chuckle. "I didn't know they had a little girl. How old are you?"

I froze up, unsure if I wanted to answer, but I did anyway. "I-I'm eleven…"

"Eleven?"

"Y-Yes sir."

He didn't respond immediately, but his lack of speech was interrupted by a click of his tongue. "You said your mommy and daddy aren't home, right?"

"Yes sir."

"What manners," he whispered to himself, but they weren't manners. Mommy said that's what I should say, and shouldn't be expected to do so because that's how you talk to people. "Can you tell them I called?"

"No sir."

He was quiet again, then repeated what I said, which I told him "I can't."

"Why can't you? It's important I talk to them. Tell them it's Hideyoshi."

"I can't," I repeated once again, then finally explained, "they don't know I'm awake. They think I'm taking a nap, and they don't know I know how to use this phone. They'll get upset if they know I did."

Silence again. This time, it seemed longer than his other periods of silence, and I was wondering if he heard me. "They—"

"I heard you," he cut in, then sighed. "When do they come home?"

"Mommy comes home at 8:32."

"Exactly?"

"Yes, every day."

The phone then beeped, and I looked at it, then whispered "hello" a few times before giving up and putting it back to its platform. I turned and looked back to the ladder, but walked off to the living room. I grabbed a cup and turned on the sink, slipping the cup under. This was something else mommy and daddy didn't know I knew how to do. I turned off the water and drank it from the cup, then used the inside of my shirt to dry the inside and stood on my tiptoes to put it away. I then looked up at the clock.

"12:53," I said to myself, then finally went to the ladder once again. I climbed it up, then I pulled it up behind me. I learned I can take the rope and fold it up as I go. I made sure the door was closed, then I went to my blanket and curled up to take my nap, just like I did every day.


End file.
